Parenting styles and substance use among youth: a case of selected rehabilitation centers in Kampala, Uganda.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study evaluated the influence of parenting styles and substance use in Uganda. The objectives of the study were to assess the relationship between authoritative parenting style and Substance use, to examine the relationship betwen authoritarian parenting style and substance use, to find out the relationship between permissive parenting style and substance use, to determine the relationship between neglectful parenting style and substance use. The study was cross sectional in nature. The study sample size was 80 basing on the population of 100 and respondents were selected from rehabilitation centres using purposive sampling and simple random sampling. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. Study findings established high level of substance use among youths aged 18 – 35 years in Kampala (M = 3.95, SD = 1.21). The study results showed moderate levels of authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful parenting styles. Study established that on the overall, parenting styles are related to substance but only permissive parenting style had a statistically positive relationship with substance use among youths in Kampala(β = 0.939, p = 0.000). This study concluded that understanding permissive parenting style is crucial in designing interventions that curtailing substance use among youths in Kampala. From the study, it is recommended that the Ministry of health should enhance specific rules and if possible, ban the sale of psychoactive substances in the country. This should be aimed at reducing access and thus use of substances by youths, and that parents should practice some level of control of their children and try to avoid being over permissive among other recommendations.